Under Attila's Gaze
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Under Attila's Gaze
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#2Extremely interesting, I'm intrigued at the idea of preserving fragmentary historical accounts by weaving them into a semi-fictional narrative (which I suppose is something that ancient historians themselves frequently did).
> Maximinus and I looked at each other, and I recall that I shrugged my shoulders unhelpfully.
Is the author taking playful liberties with the metafictional "translation" here, or is the gesture of shrugging your shoulders actually attested in Roman times?
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#3Extremely interesting, I'm intrigued at the idea of preserving fragmentary historical accounts by weaving them into a semi-fictional narrative (which I suppose is something that ancient historians themselves frequently did). > Maximinus and I looked at each other, and I recall that I shrugged my shoulders unhelpfully. Is the author taking playful liberties with the metafictional "translation" here, or is the gesture…
The first few episodes of "Vikings" owed a lot to Ahmad ibn Fadlan, but I think the use of source material went steadily downhill from there. "Roma Sub Rosa" correlated well with my classes for the first few books, but I don't know how they've held up in light of any more recent scholarship.
Chirologia/Chironomia are more oriented to hand gestures rather than whole body, but they might have some clues. Roman orators had a set of stock poses (the memes of the day?), so maybe Cicero actually said something about shoulder shrugging in the "delivery" part of De Inventione? It's certainly a gesture that would have read well in the back rows, had they used it.
EDIT: maybe also somewhere in Quintilian? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutio_Oratoria
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#4Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#5Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
Most people wouldn't really have a concept of what a "state" was.
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#6Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
At this point the Roman Empire was Christian. The Emperor was no longer considered a god. They were now considered chosen by God to lead the faithful on Earth.
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#7Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
At this point the Roman Empire was Christian. The Emperor was no longer considered a god. They were now considered chosen by God to lead the faithful on Earth.
The Scythians raised a cup in toast to their King Attila, and Maximinus proposed that the toast should also be to our lord Theodosius. At this, Bigilas spoke out, saying that it was not right that a god and a man should be compared in such a way.
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#8Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
Most people wouldn't really have a concept of what a "state" was.
The concept of state sovereignty wouldn't come about until (approximately) the Treaty of Westphalia, but Romans of this time period would have certainly understood what the government-prescribed religion is
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#9I love that this account survives, not least because the embassy to Attila was made to argue about some missing bowls.
Re: Under Attila's Gaze
#10Interesting that it was still seen as obvious that the emperor was a God, given that Theodisus II's grandfather had made christianity the state religion.
At this point the Roman Empire was Christian. The Emperor was no longer considered a god. They were now considered chosen by God to lead the faithful on Earth.
I would not assume that our modern understanding of Christian orthodoxy totally applies. Christianity is a syncretic religion nearly everywhere.